


Conundrum in the Closet

by MarioMisc



Series: Oneshots [6]
Category: Splatoon
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Established Relationship, F/F, Meeting the Parents, Mild Fluff, Oneshot, Pearlina, Pearlina Week, Racism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 18:07:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,431
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19381984
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarioMisc/pseuds/MarioMisc
Summary: Pearl’s parents are coming over to meet Marina, but Marina does not want to meet them since they know that she is Octarian. (Loosely based on the Cake VS. Ice Cream prompt for CJ Walker’s Pearlina Week).





	Conundrum in the Closet

**Author's Note:**

> Ow

“REENA!” Pearl yelled as she walked around her house, searching for her love. “Baby, where are you?! You don’t have to be afraid!”

“S-S-S-STOP IT!” Marina said alongside a sob, “You don’t know that!”

“Sweetheart,” Pearl said as she tried walking towards where she heard Marina’s voice, “My parents are nice people! They won’t hate you for your-”

“YOU DON’T KNOW THAT!” Marina repeated.

Pearl was able to determine that Marina was upstairs in one of the closets. She went up to the door and said, “Marina, please! Get yourself out of there!”

“NO! I… I’M NOT READY!!”

“If you want this relationship to work out to its best potential, you’re going to have to meet my parents at SOME point! Baby, it’s been months since we’ve started dating and YEARS since we’ve met!”

“I… I CAN’T DO THIS!”

Pearl barged into the closet and saw a devastated Marina. Her face was wet with tears and she was curled up and leaning against the wall.

After she closed the door, Pearl said, “Babe, please… trust me on this.”

“NO! I can’t trust ANYTHING related to species in this city! WHY DO YOU THINK I HIDE IT?!”

“Look, I can’t speak for the rest of the town, but my parents specifically SAID they weren’t prejudiced against Octarians!”

“You’d be surprised how people can easily mask it!”

“Sweetheart, don’t get angry! Please, I’m just trying-”

“To put me in an insanely uncomfortable position?! Look, you never met my parents. I’m NOT meeting your’s!”

“Look, I know I shouldn’t have told you that my parents… well… know that you’re Octarian. I should’ve kept species out of the whole thing but… I didn’t. Look, my parents accepted my invite to come over to my place with great enthusiasm! REALISTIC enthusiasm! They aren’t actors, Reena!”

“Yeah… enthusiasm to beat the SHIT OUT OF ME!”

“Marina, look, you NEED to calm down! You’re too paranoid about species!”

“Y’know, when you’re a celebrity who has to HIDE this crap when it can easily be in plain sight for some people and rumors can be spread… it’s DIFFICULT! I don’t need to deal with anymore crap related to it!”

“You WON’T! That’s what I’m telling you!”

“FOR THE LAST TIME, YOU DON’T KNOW THAT YOU FUCKING IDIOT!!”

Pearl jumped backwards in response to the insult, almost tripping. She had a devastated look on her face- one of betrayal.

Meanwhile, Marina had a disappointed look. Though her face had a bit of a red tint from all the anger she had unleashed upon her love, there was still sadness in her eyes and she was frowning greatly. Her face was still very teary. “I’m… sorry… This… this stuff has been messing with me… way too much… I just want it to end!”

Pearl changed her facial expression to a more concerned and confident one. “Baby, I'll let that slide. It’s fine.”

“What have I… come to… I’ve let my anxiety take me over!”

“Please, Marina, we all have outbursts and… honestly I’m surprised given the shit you’ve had to deal with that you don’t have more. You handle them very well much of the time!” Pearl went to Marina and cupped her cheeks, “But please, baby, listen to me. My parents are great people. They don’t seem to be at all upset about your species.”

“But… but… what if they fake?”

Pearl embraced Marina by hugging her and kissing her forehead. “They aren’t, Marina. I know my own parents.”

“And I know my own fans, but I don’t know what they think of Octarians!”

“Don’t you think if my parents hated you that much they would’ve tried to start a rumor?”

“They could’ve thought not to bother since they may have thought it wouldn’t have gained any traction.”

“Sweetie, you… you just have to trust me on this… you should know to take risks. I’m surprised you aren’t with this given that you escaped Octarian society. That could’ve gotten you killed!”

“That’s… that’s different! I was under the influence of a song and it was the only way for me to have a better life!”

“But what about our future? Do you want us to have an awkward relationship with my parents? Don’t you want us to have the best future possible? I don’t want my relationship with my parents to become loosened by this. I understand the concern, but you’re being unrealistic if you think that our relationship won’t be harmed if you don’t meet my parents. Besides, don’t you want to stand up to this crap rather than be fearful of it? If they end up being bad to you, stand up to em! I’ll support ya!”

Marina looked downwards for a second at her own legs, thinking. A few moments passed and she looked at Pearl, and said, “You’re… you’re right…” Tears continued to form from her eyes. “I’m sorry.” she said with a cracked voice.

“Marina, I understand. I can’t imagine the stress you must endure daily over this kind of stuff. I want you to know that I’ll always be there for you because… I care about you so much and would never want anything bad to happen to you. Every time I see you like this… every time I see you hurt, it… it breaks me too…” Pearl said, her eyes becoming watery.

In response, Marina pulled Pearl into a deep hug. She planted kisses all over Pearl’s face as the two sobbed quietly near each other. After a while, Marina finally said, “Thank you… thank you so much…”

“Thank you too, baby. Thank you for being you. Thank you for everything you’ve done to help me and this world. You’re great in every way.”

Suddenly, the two girls heard the doorbell ring.

“I’ll get that! Marina, come follow me!” Pearl said as she ran out of the closet and down the stairs.

Pearl opened the door to see two middle-aged adults, a man and a woman, who were approximately her height. She gave both of them the typical hugs, kisses, and greeting phrases, and then turned around, expecting Marina to be right behind her or at least coming down the steps.

But Marina wasn’t there.

“Yo, Reena, you coming?!” she yelled towards upstairs.

No response.

“Uh, excuse me for just a quick moment,” Pearl said. Immediately after, she sprinted up the stairs and went back into the closet to see that Marina hadn’t even budged from her original spot. She closed the door and said, “Uh… you still nervous, I’m guessing?”

Marina nodded with a shameful look. “Um… can you…” Marina put out her right hand towards Pearl. “Take… my hand… and help me walk… down the stairs, please…”

“Of course, sweetheart.” Pearl took Marina’s hand.

However, Marina pulled her hand back. “Oh, just one more thing…”

“Yeah ?”

“Um… are they…” she turned away to the left with an embarrassed look.

“Uh… continue?”

“Um… are they your height or um…”

“Yes, they’re my height.”

Marina hugged her knees closer to her face and body in response, and made a face that looked like a lost puppy.

“Hey, they won’t care! I mean you’re fine being around me! I don’t see the problem.”

“That’s… that’s different! You actually think I’m comfy!”

Pearl blushed. “Well, I um… we’re serving ice cream! I chose it over cake!”

“Uh, and?”

“Marina, baby, please! We’re gonna be sitting down most of the time anyways!”

“It’ll… still be noticeable…”

“Maybe but ICE CREAM!! RISK-TAKING! What did I say?!

Marina sighed. “Alright, Pearl. I’m doing this for us.” The Octarian stood up. “Can you still take my hand though?” she softly asked as she brought out her left hand again.

Pearl immediately, yet gently took it. “Of course.”

Together, the two walked down the stairs to Pearl’s patient parents.

Overall, the meeting went well. Pearl’s parents were fond of Marina’s interest in technology and talent that Pearl never shut up about. There was no care for her species nor her height.

“You see, Marina? That went fine, didn’t it?” Pearl said as she closed the door as her parents exited the house.

Marina was near the dinner table across the room from the door. “I really need to calm over this stuff. It’s not healthy. I should think about the positives…”

“Hey, again, I don’t blame you.”

Marina smiled, “Thanks for being so supportive, babe.”

“Hey, for a person like you, how can I not be so supportive?”

Marina laughed with a blush. “Come here!”

And with that, the two girls embraced each other with a kiss on their lips.

**Author's Note:**

> I found it rather bizarre that there’s like hardly any fics related to parent meeting for Pearlina. It’s a rather general topic for relationships and yet there isn’t much content about it. I’ve seen like one art piece and one fic but that’s really it so I decided to try to fill in the gap a bit more.  
> I’m probably not making a fic for the AU prompt for this week btw. I already have a longform AU fic in the making anyways.  
> I’ll try to get to the other prompts. This’ll probably be the last angst-focused one for the week.  
> Anyways hope y’all enjoyed that. Comment if you have something to say and kudos if you’d like to. Thanks!  
> Writing Twitter is @Mario_Misc


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